Hammer Timely – Lewis Hamilton Wins 9th British Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton ended a 56-race winless drought with a dramatic home win at Silverstone in the Qatar Airway British Grand Prix as pole sitter and Mercedes teammate George Russell retired from the race with a water cooling issue. Hamilton survived a late charge from Max Verstappen, who ran the final stint on hard tires, to capture a victory 17 years after his first F1 win. The victory stands as Hamilton’s ninth at Silverstone of the seven-time world champion’s storied career. 

“I can’t stop crying,” Hamilton said. “Since 2021 every day getting up, trying to fight to train, to put my mind to the task and work as hard as I can with this amazing team — and this is my last race here at the British Grand Prix with this team.

“I wanted to win this so much for them because I love them, I appreciate them so much. All the hard work they’ve been putting in all of these years, I’m forever grateful to everyone at this team, to everyone at Mercedes.”

Verstappen snatched second from Lando Norris, who faltered late on soft tires. Oscar Piastri was fourth, and Carlos Sainz finished fifth and used a late pit stop for soft tires to take an extra point for the fastest lap.   

“We threw it away in the final stop,” Norris said. “so one lap, but also I don’t think it was a lap. I think even if I boxed on the perfect lap, our decision to go on to the softs was the wrong one. I think Lewis still would have won, no matter what. Two calls from our side cost us everything today. Especially here, pretty disappointing.”

Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg posted his second consecutive sixth-place finish, while Aston Martin teammates Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso took seventh and eighth, respectively. Williams’ Alex Albon finished ninth and RB’s Yuki Tsunoda collected the final point in 10th.

In the driver standings, Verstappen’s lead over Norris is 255 to 171. Charles Leclerc’s tenuous lead over his Ferrari teammate Sainz for third is only fourth points.

In the constructor standings, Red Bull leads Ferrari 373 to 302, with McLaren just seven points back in third with 295.

The Race

Russell’s launch from the pole was solid and Hamilton slotted into second as Norris and Verstappen jockeyed for third place. Verstappen used a slipstream from Hamilton and Norris to slip by Norris into turn four. And just like that, Norris was again chasing Verstappen.